


Old Couch

by MermaidMelo



Category: Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Angst, Break Up, Cheating, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Sex, Thorki - Freeform, kinda sorta, like woah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 19:04:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MermaidMelo/pseuds/MermaidMelo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Breakups aren't necessarily permanent endings to a relationship...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Couch

The couch smelled faintly of must, and faintly of what could only be described as “old country”. It was easily older than either of them, possibly older than the two of them put together. Threadbare and void of all its cushioning, the couch could be considered an antique if it hadn’t been treated as the old family couch. The woodwork was beautiful, but scratched and dull from years of scraping against various wooden and carpeted floors, in and out of various houses as the family had moved. 

The couch wasn’t the ideal spot for sex. Loki was built like a beanpole, limbs that seemed to go on forever, and his feet often stretched beyond the mattress; the high arms of the old couch resulted in constant readjustment of their position as he struggled, in every possible way, to make contact with Thor. The mental challenge associated with the couch only added to the physical challenge; it felt so wrong to have sex on a couch where several generations of a family had sat. The couch was something of a family heirloom, even if it wasn’t necessarily treated that way. It was the kind of couch some people would cover in vinyl to keep bodies from coming in direct contact with it, but the couch had been in the family so long it eventually became the family room couch, not the living room couch. 

And there they were having sex in the family room. Thor hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on when he walked in that night. He wasn’t planning on staying long, just enough to feed the cat and the dog, water the plants, and check the mail. On any other night, he would relish the chance to be in an empty house, maybe order some food, watch whatever reruns were on TV and ignore the rest of the world. Tonight he was on edge, eager to leave the unfamiliar house. He decided to stay long enough to hear from Loki. They hadn’t spoken in so long, Thor wasn’t even sure he’d respond to the text.

Thor took his time as he rushed. The cat was easy to care for; she took to waiting for Thor at the edge of the coffee table, her eyes reflecting the headlights of passing cars as he opened the front door. She was huge, but afraid of her own shadow, and Thor spent the first three days coaxing her out of her hiding place underneath the bed. Now that the cat confirmed his arrival as the arrival of dinner, she took to waiting for him. He usually came in the evening, but never at the same time, so he wondered when the cat decided to take up watch at the edge of the coffee table, next to the old family couch. 

Thor enjoyed talking to the animals as he moved about the old house. He would water the plants only after the cat was fed, or else the cat refused to leave him alone. “Yeah fat ass, I’m here to feed you. I’m here to do other things just so you know, though I doubt you care.” The dog was sometimes a challenge. The poor animal had two busted knees and three separate bottles of pills. His regimen was exhausting – as sweet as he was, he resisted most of the pills, even those beef-flavored ones dogs are supposed to love. Thor would sometimes sit on the patio for 20 minutes, carefully hiding pieces of blue or white pills in sliced turkey breast or cubes of white cheese.

Tonight he pulled a beer from the refrigerator along with the sliced turkey. “That’s for me buddy, though the alcohol would probably help you with that knee pain, huh…” He crossed the living room, the cat’s eyes following him from its haven near the coffee table as Thor balanced the pills and dog snacks and beer in his hands. “Alright buddy, let’s see if this takes the time of one beer, or two.” He set about rolling the pills into the sliced meat, pushing each morsel deep into the dog’s waiting mouth. He waited after each bite. “You’re not as sneaky as you may think,” he quipped at the dog, as a broken piece of white pill was spit to the floor, “I can do this all night.” He checked his phone again. “Though I probably shouldn’t…”

The medical regimen over, Thor rinsed out the water bowl and brought the dog a fresh one. He was almost hoping it would take longer, almost. Then he’d have an excuse for waiting around for his text reply, if it ever came. It was probably for the best. He set down the second beer, half-consumed, contemplating dumping the rest down the drain and deleting Loki’s number once and for all, even though he had the number memorized. The dog sniffed the rim of the bottle and sneezed in disgust. "That's not what you want anyway," Thor smiled at the dog. He scooped out the dry, crunchy kernels of dog food, the dog's heavy tail hitting him in the knees with delight. "I'm happy you're happy." 

Something was definitely wrong with the wiring in his brain. He only ever really desired Loki when he was with someone else. In their time together, they had broken up three times in ten years. Actually, Thor broke up with him three times in ten years. There was no one better, no prospect of a better relationship, but Loki got bored while he got comfortable. Thor talked about marriage, Loki dreamed of travel and adventure. He talked about travel and adventure in marriage; Loki considered marriage the end of such things. Thor had no point of reference of course, but the last time he broke it off, he realized Loki would never be comfortable with commitment. There would never be anyone better, no one to break him free from this cycle. But Thor could no longer allow Loki to make him miserable. Even if they had gone through with it, Thor would grow to hate being married to Loki thanks to his poisonous outlook slowly leeching into their lives. It always happened. And every time Thor started dating someone else, their paths would cross. He wondered if he did it on purpose. He took extra steps to avoid seeing Loki, hearing about him; but once he did, something would draw him back.

It always started casually enough – maybe a meeting with a large group of people, or a night out at a bar where many circles of friends meant you could bounce around and not get stuck in conversation – with him or anyone else. Inevitably it ended with a phone call, long or short, and them meeting somewhere, the apartment where Thor still lived with his parents, in Thor’s car in the underground parking garage where he worked, or tonight, on the threadbare family couch in his fiancee’s house. The location would change, but the emotions were the same. Thor was still in love with him, wondering if the night would restart things between them, this time for good. Loki just needed to feel the only power he ever fully had over anyone – the boy who wanted him all those years ago, loved him so badly he allowed himself the humiliation of satisfying him for one night.

He was the best sex Thor ever had. He was also his first, and though Thor had slept with more experienced lovers, Loki was still the best. And it wasn’t only on these clandestine nights. Even when they were together, he loved making love to Loki. He always gave everything to him, willingly; Loki would always be his first love, the man he wanted more than anyone. Loki made him feel beautiful, and he told him so. He touched him with delicate hands, his fingertips paying attention to parts that were always overlooked by other lovers – the crook in his elbow, the line along his side down his ribs.

Tonight was all wrong, more so than usual. Thor knew it was wrong to sleep with him; wrong because Loki took advantage of his love for him, wrong because either one or two of them was involved with someone else. But tonight was rushed and uncomfortable, as if the physical challenges with the high-armed old couch weren’t the only problem. They never spent hours together, but when they had sex, it always felt unrushed and Thor was always luxuriously relaxed when it was over. Tonight was all wrong. Even the pointless sexually charged pre-sex casual conversation was rushed.

He came to the house and parked in the driveway; Thor always parked on the street. After all, it wasn’t his house. He leaned against the car and waited for Thor to come out of the house. They made uncomfortable small talk, the usual conversation that inevitably led to the cheating. The whole routine was probably cheating; they both knew the small talk was the precursor. The front door still ajar, the cat peered out into the night, staring at the unfamiliar person with the unfamiliar scent, waiting on padded feet to make a quick escape in case the stranger came too close. 

Tonight Loki asked about his students, whether Thor enjoyed his experience as a history teacher, whether he was nervous or excited about his engagement. Thor looked at his feet as he spoke. He loved his fiancée, but he would always love Loki more, and tonight would be the last time Thor could ever allow himself to express his love for him. The cat darted into the far bedroom to take shelter. The dog forgot about the rest of his dinner as he pawed at the glass door, hoping to greet the new visitor. Thor offered his fiancée’s bedroom; Loki said it made him feel uncomfortable. Thor jokingly offered the parent’s bedroom; he responded with a bruising kiss to his lips and pushed him to the couch. 

“Really? Here? How is the family couch less uncomfortable than the bed?”

The response came in another harsh kiss, and Loki’s hands moving to his belt. Tall as they both were, Thor didn’t let the couch affect his passion. He had come prepared, too. He reached in his wallet for a condom. Loki wondered if he carried condoms in his wallet because of his fiancée, or only because of him.

“I think this has been in my wallet for over a year.”

How special, almost like a keepsake. The sarcasm in Loki’s thoughts shot out of him as fingernails down Thor’s back. Was this final time together finally a victory for him? Was he taking advantage of Loki, just this once, knowing that his life decisions had determined their final time together?

Loki’s mind wandered as Thor’s hands wandered to his boxers, pushing the elastic over his hipbones and down to his knees. Loki had broken his heart countless times over the years; he was possibly breaking Loki’s now. They wanted different things in life, but they both still wanted each other.

Normally Thor had a hair trigger with Loki, at least for the first round, something that embarrassed him and made Loki laugh. But tonight he was on his game, and despite the length of time between their last tryst and this one, he kept going. Loki wondered if his fiancée gave it up easily, maybe that’s why he could last so long. He considered bringing it up, perhaps to goad Thor, perhaps to further their last night together...

He left Loki on the old couch. The house just begged to be haunted – old and creaking, one long hallway, a lot of dark corners. They never bothered with the lights, and Loki heard him stumble slightly down the unfamiliar hallway to the bathroom. Loki remained on the couch, refusing to get up or get dressed or look up to see Thor return. His fingers found a loose thread on the couch, and he realized the once-beautiful though old-fashioned pattern had worn away in many places. Loki tugged absentmindedly at the yellowing thread, destroying more of the pattern as he went. Realizing his error, he tried in vain to thread the fabric back.


End file.
